The invention concerns a harvesting device for harvesting ears of corn or similar crops for mounting on a self-propelled agricultural harvesting vehicle, in particular on a combine or a chopper forage harvester.
In known harvesting devices of this type, the picking devices for the ears of corn are configured in a way that permits them to receive the corn plants, which are customarily grown in rows, only in a row sequence. This is conditioned by the configuration of the picking gap that extends in the longitudinal direction of the harvesting vehicle by the location of the picking cylinder or picking cylinders below the picking gap with their rotational axes being oriented in the driving direction.
This row-oriented mode of operation makes harvesting difficult if the distances between the plants in the field differ and more so when picking up laid corn that is strewn over the ground irregularly. In particular, however, driving the harvesting vehicle across the rows of plants as can be recommended for a steady harvesting operation is largely excluded due to the row-oriented orientation of the picking gap.
The invention is based on the task of developing a harvesting device for the harvesting of ears of corn or similar types of crops for mounting on a self-propelled agricultural harvesting vehicle in particular a combine or a chopper forage harvester, the picking device of which is configured in such a way that it can receive the plants and pick the ears of corn or other crops from their stalks independent from row formation.
According to the invention, the ear holding device consists of one or several picking disks, which can rotate around a vertical shaft and in each of which at least one picking gap is formed. The field can be harvested independent from row formation due to the picking gaps rotating in the rotating direction of the picking disk since the picking gaps are not irreversibly mounted in the driving direction of the vehicle, as is the case in known picking devices. Instead, the picking disks grab the corn stalk in their rotational movement independent from the row formation within an area of a moving sector of the picking disk that precedes the harvesting vehicle in its driving direction. As the picking disk continues to rotate, the corn stalk is inserted into the picking gap, inward toward the rotating point of the picking disk. The ears of corn, which are subsequently ripped off by means of the picking cylinder, which is located below the picking gap, can now be transported away by means of conveying channels that are configured above the covering device, toward the harvesting vehicle in order to be conveyed either to a combine or to a chopper forage harvester as a harvesting vehicle for further processing. As a matter of principle, however, the device can also be mounted on a different type of self-propelled agricultural harvesting vehicle that only collects the picked ears of corn or similar crops in order to transport them to a different location for further processing.